Former KU Chancellor and his wife support deferred maintenance projects

Archie and Nancy Dykes

A gift for deferred maintenance at the University of Kansas creates a win-win situation. It supports needed campus upgrades, and it provides a tax credit for donors.

Former KU Chancellor Archie Dykes and his wife, Nancy, recently provided a $100,000 gift to KU Endowment for deferred maintenance. Dykes, KU’s 13th chancellor, served the university from 1973-1980.

“Having been chancellor, I know firsthand the difficulty the university experiences in securing sufficient funds for maintenance programs,” Dykes said. “There is always a critical need, sometimes very critical, for maintenance initiatives that mean much to the university’s academic and research pursuits.”

Dykes said much of the campus’ current beauty reflects work done by former chancellors, including Deane Malott and his wife, Eleanor, who led a campus planting and beautification project in the 1940s.

“I also have a special interest, as every chancellor has had, in maintaining the beauty of the campus and the attractiveness of the campus’ physical plant,” Dykes said. “That’s one of the great assets of the university — that almost everyone who visits KU comes away saying what a beautiful place it is.”

KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little expressed appreciation to the Dykes for their gift for deferred maintenance.

“We are the beneficiaries not only of Archie and Nancy Dykes’ generosity and loyalty to KU but also their insight that maintaining our beautiful campus takes significant effort and support,” said Gray-Little.

The state of Kansas allows donors who make a gift toward deferred maintenance needs of the university to qualify for a 45 percent tax credit. This is in addition to any standard charitable deduction that may be available. Tax credits provide a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxes owed. Numerous buildings on the Lawrence campus and at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City have significant deferred maintenance needs. Examples of areas of need include ventilation systems, electrical, plumbing, window and doors, and work to achieve ADA compliance.

In the past year, several deferred maintenance projects have been completed, including work at Dyche, Haworth, Malott, Wescoe and Murphy halls and in the campus utility tunnel system.

Buildings still in need of deferred work include Watson Library, Bailey, Learned, Lippincott and Lindley halls, and the Art and Design building. A complete list of remaining projects can be viewed at kuendowment.org/deferredmaintenance.

The gift will be managed by KU Endowment, the official fundraising and fund-management foundation for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment was the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.